Review by Piers Beagley - Elvis Information Network
The Minnesota soundboard audio quality is similar to the America April 1976 FTD, although far more listenable since the mix (as well as Elvis’ mood) was so wrong on the previous release. It is, however, not as good audio quality as the fine Rockin’ Across Texas July 3 1976 FTD. but the CD is a packed seventy-seven minutes.
The cover design on the front leaves a lot to be desired for me since the cover-shot of Elvis looking through the letters of his own name seems a little strange. It is, however, a basic digi-pack which features several of Tim Healy's photographs showing Elvis looking much better than earlier in the year. Elvis is wearing his “Inca Gold Leaf” jumpsuit - a great improvement on the "Bicentennial Suit" he had been wearing for the previous six months.
Elvis kicks off with a fairly upbeat 'C.C. Rider'. He sounds neither tired nor out-of-breath (as he does on the FTD New Haven ‘76 from earlier in the year).
In fact as Elvis starts singing 'I Got A Woman' there's a laugh in his voice and he seems to be enjoying himself being on-stage and performing to his beloved fans rather than that well-known "just got out-of-bed" feel.
When a fan asks for his microphone to be turned up Elvis shows good humour and playfully jokes deliberately over-loudly into the mic, "Listen goddamn it, we'll get it right one way or another!"
Overall, the first few songs have a far better and more upbeat feel than most 1976 concerts, hardly the power of 1974 but nor the sadness of most performances earlier in the year. Elvis must have been feeling physically better.
'You Gave Me A Mountain' is charmingly done with enthusiasm, no breathlessness and no troubles hitting the power-notes. The ending with "You gave me a mountain. Lord, you know you did" is a nice touch.
The crowd-pleasing oldies are thrown-away as always ('Don't Be Cruel' is particularly uninspired) although I am sure on the night they would have sounded great if you had never seen Elvis perform previously.
The treats really start with a delicious and considered 'And I Love You So' very nicely sung, one of the best later live versions.
Elvis is then up-for-fun with 'Fever' teasing the crowd "Hope the suit don't break. Now honey, don't go completely nuts!" Taking the song a little more seriously than often, it has a cool swagger for a later seventies’ version and gets the crowd screaming.
‘Steamroller Blues' sounds pretty cool, with some nice piano from Tony Brown and Elvis' enthusiasm showing over James Burton's guitar solo. Elvis certainly puts in far more energy than usual. Only performed around six times in the last seven months of 1976, Elvis would only perform the song another five times in his life.
As usual in 1976, the Introductions seem to go on forever. They are somewhat saved by a delicate 'Early Mornin’ Rain'. I am sure that had anybody thought these soundboards would ever be released then the musicians (Tony Brown?) would have varied their solos somewhat each night. Interestingly, Jerry Scheff deviates somewhat from the norm this night and it's a fine bass solo, even if all we want is more real Elvis!
Elvis introduces the "first song David Briggs and I did when we first worked together" as "Hurt". But then nicely corrects himself, "No, I mean 'Love Letters' - good grief!" As noted, it is one of the better versions of 'Love Letters'. This is far better than the torturous Tucson ‘76 version or the too-slow Rockin’ Across Texas version.
A different version has been used for 'Hurt' on this CD (from November 30 in Anaheim, but incorrectly listed as being from October 26 in Dayton!) and disappointingly 'Hurt' now doesn't feature the reprise that Elvis gave on the night, which would also go to show his positive mood. It is, however, a fine version and very different since a VERY up-front piano mix has been used for the song. It is a shame that the audio mix is so different but I actually have no complaints as it does sound so varied from the usual.
'Hound Dog' is the regular run through before Elvis spontaneously chooses 'One Night' as the next song. "You see we're here to entertain you. So whatever you want to hear, we'll do it!" Elvis sang 'One Night' possibly less than ten times in the whole of 1976 and would only sing it another four times in his career. Elvis never sang this classic song at all in the whole of 1973 or 1974, and while it sure hasn't the bite of 1968 I would have been thrilled to hear it.
In fact Elvis does have some fun with 'One Night' and treats it with much more enthusiasm than he does any of the regular oldies. His voice has a good punch to it and James Burton's guitar is a treat. Listen out for Elvis' deep "yeahhh" before the break.
'It's Now Or Never' without the Sherrill Neilsen ‘O Sole Mio’ intro (and still somewhat of a rarity in Elvis' set-list in 1976) is good to hear this night and is greeted with the applause it deserved.
'Mystery Train’/’Tiger Man' (not performed at every show) is of course another highlight and another sign of Elvis having extra energy that night.
Asking for the house lights to be turned up, Elvis ends with a delightful 'Funny How Time Slips Away' before the standard outro.
As stated, the whole show, if not compared against Elvis stunning early seventies’ concerts, is one of the better performances from 1976 and shows that things were improving for him.
Although the final December Las Vegas season would become too exhausting (not helped by his sprained ankle) this October season was an indication of how Elvis could motivate himself as he would for the final great tour of the year.
With the highlights of the Minnesota concert being in the second half, the overall feel of the CD is even given an even more positive spin with five fine bonus songs.
Five bonus songs, two from Sioux Falls, October 18, and three more from Anaheim, November 30 (there is a mistake on the sleeve notes here). The quality of the three Anaheim recordings is a stunning jump in sound-quality as it is very good for a soundboard and also in stereo, albeit with mainly piano on the left channel. Sadly, the stereo is out-of-phase.
In Minnesota, for some reason, Elvis left out his power-house vocal highlight, 'America' although he was still performing it on most nights. The version here from Sioux Falls is one of the better versions and there is some discussion beforehand yet again showing that Elvis was in good humour at his show the following night. Elvis cleverly jokes about the PA system, "Why's that thing humming? Perhaps it doesn't know the words!"
'Fairytale' as always, is also another nice treat even if it doesn’t have the power of his earlier 1975 versions. He is obviously having fun at the end as he punches out the words. Again apart from the audience recording of New Year’s Eve this is the only 1976 release of this song. It is amazing to think that Elvis’ fairytale only had nine months to go.
‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ in stereo sounds great quality and it is s a very measured performance and so much better than the sad and over-medicated version on New Haven ‘76. This is again a treat as, so far from 1976-1977, FTD has surprisingly only released the one version, on New Haven ’76.
‘Blue Christmas’ is another gem, the sound quality being so damn good. Elvis says he’s going to play guitar, "Is the guitar in tune?" There’s a lovely touch where Elvis says in a deep voice "last line". Elvis only sang this song four times in 1977 and the version here has a much slower and country feel compared to the March 26 1977 Norman concert (Spring Tours ‘77 FTD) that we know. This is in fact the only official release of this song from 1976.
‘That’s All Right’ - The fabulous joke here is that someone in the audience suggests ‘Lonesome Cowboy’! Elvis reacts with shock and the band even begins playing a few bars of the song! Not an overly-common song for Elvis to perform in the last year of his life, ‘That’s All Right’ sounds very good for 1976, although perhaps taken too fast a tempo. Elvis, however, sounds pumped-up as he kicks the band along, "Walk on, Walk on.." Once again amazingly this is the only official release of this song from 1976.
Elvis notes, "Thank you. Whoo!" - a great way to end the CD.
So while the esteemed magazine Elvis: The Man And His Music (which I respect very much) derided this release for Elvis’ lamentable performances (‘One Night’ considered "a travesty") we all know that this is Elvis performing less than eight months before his final concert. So compared to other shows of the same year - I would have been happy to have witnessed this show.
As FTD have a concept of releasing one Elvis show from each individual tour, then this unreleased Minnesota concert is a fine addition to the 1976 collection, and certainly better than Tucson ‘76, New Haven ’76 or America.
Not to forget the earlier Rockin’ Across Texas FTD of July 3 1976 where the concert was a complete surprise in that it captured a rare performance of Elvis in good form mid-year.
Overall Verdict
For listening pleasure one could never choose an Elvis live performance of 1976 over his dynamic concerts of the early seventies. Even the highly-rated December 1976 concerts cannot compete against the power of That‘s The Way It Is 1970 or On Tour 1972.
Elvis in 1976 was not a healthy man and his manager (who should have known better) who pushed Elvis to a gruelling nine USA tours and two casino seasons in the final year of his life), should have been the one made to suffer. So while these 1976 concerts in general have to present a worn-out superstar, this unreleased Minnesota concert comes as somewhat of a surprise and really does capture some of the spark that would bring Elvis back to his final great concerts at the end of the year. Elvis collectors must surely appreciate this FTD release - but in the same breath I would be very wary of playing this to any non-Elvis fanatics who might not realise the legacy and history behind Elvis’ final year.
